Oppn Condemns Parliament Order on Word Usage, Speaker Calls It Routine Practice

A booklet released by the LS Secretariat has listed words like 'untrue' and 'corrupt' as unparliamentary.

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(Photo: The Quint)

Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, decried the Lok Sabha Secretariat directive listing out words that will be considered 'unparliamentary' in both Houses of Parliament, saying that all terms illustrating the realities of the Modi government have been restricted.

"All words used by the Opposition to describe the reality of Modi Sarkar now to be considered 'unparliamentary'," wrote Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday, 14 July, called it a routine practice and claimed that no word has been banned. He said that the secretariat issued a compilation of the words that have been expunged in the House previously.

“Words that have been expunged have been said/used in the Parliament by the Opposition as well as the party in power. Nothing as such selective expunging of words used by only Opposition,” Birla said at a press conference.

Ahead of the Monsoon Session, a booklet released by the Secretariat on Wednesday, listed words such as 'untrue', 'corrupt', and 'dictatorial' as 'unparliamentary'. However, the Rajya Sabha chairperson and the Lok Sabha Speaker will have the last say in expunging them.

'Is Truth Unparliamentary?': Mahua Moitra

Weighing in, TMC MP Mahua Moitra took to Twitter to ask, "Is truth unparliamentary?"

Reacting to the list, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi posted:

"What is the intention of the government. If one does corruption, then do not say corrupt; call corruption a 'masterstroke'. After throwing 'jumlas' (rhetoric) like '2 crore jobs', 'doubling farmers' income', they should be termed as 'thank you'," Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet in Hindi.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, meanwhile, wrote in Hindi "Saheb knows his qualities quite well."

In another tweet in Hindi, the Congress said, "Who will be afraid of 'Jumlajeevi' – the one who has given jumlas. Who will be afraid of the word 'Jaichand' – one who has betrayed the country. These words are not being banned in Parliament, PM Modi's fear is coming out."

'Fighting For Democracy': Derek O' Brien, Owaisi, Others React

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "GAG ORDER ISSUED ON MPs. Now, we will not be allowed to use these basic words while delivering a speech in Parliament : Ashamed. Abused. Betrayed. Corrupt. Hypocrisy. Incompetent. I will use all these words. Suspend me. Fighting for democracy."

Speaking to news agency ANI, AIMIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said,

"Context is important in what you speak in the parliament. You cannot just term words unparliamentary. Is it not unparliamentary that the speaker sat behind PM (during the inauguration of bronze National Emblem)?"

Asaduddin Owaisi

Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha spoke to ANI and quipped, "It's heartening that Government of India knows the adjectives that accurately describe their performance, while it's extremely disappointing that a gag order has been issued."

Telangana Rashtra Samithi's Y Sathish Reddy, taking a dig at the prime minister, wrote, "Kindly do not use JumlaJeevi!"

Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also hit out at the government, saying the meme to speak only "Wah Modi ji, Wah" seems to be turning true.

"'What to do, what to speak, only Wah Modi ji, Wah,', this popular meme now seems to be coming true," she said in a tweet.

He added, "This revised list of unparliamentary words is itself unparliamentary. This shows GoI is fearful of the truth. Words like 'jumlajeevi' became unparliamentary while 'andolanjeevi' remains there."

The compilation also includes references to phrases that, in addition to those forbidden in some Commonwealth Parliaments in 2020, were deemed unparliamentary in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and state legislatures of India in 2021.

'Routine Practice': Speaker Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the words that were objected to previously have been removed.

"It's a routine practice continuing since 1959," the Speaker said.

“Earlier a book of such unparliamentary words used to be released... to avoid wastage of papers, we have put it on internet. No words have been banned, we have issued a compilation of the words that have been expunged,” he added.

“The decision to expunge words taken keeping in mind context and objections raised by other members,” the speaker claimed.

(With inputs from ANI.)